Communication B.A.

Required credits to graduate with this degree: 120

The Division of Liberal Arts supports the university’s mission through the Communication program by educating and guiding students as individuals so that they may realize their full career potential and enhance their lives. The Communication major provides an environment that reflects the institution’s tradition of personal service, commitment to innovative technology-enriched education, and earning relationships with community, employers and society.

Since communication pervades all areas of personal, academic, and professional life, instruction in Communication is a fundamental to the curriculum. A Communication major will help the student think critically, analyze ideas, gather and interpret information, solve problems, understand group processes and audience psychology, communicate effectively through reading, writing, speaking, listening, and other forms of verbal and nonverbal expression and appreciate the historical, aesthetic and technical dimensions of human communication.

The Communication degree emphasizes a wide variety of competencies which provide the major with a wide range of job opportunities. Some areas especially well-suited to this degree include but are not limited to business, public relations/advertising, media, nonprofits and government, radio, television, journalism, etc. The prerequisites provide a comprehensive overview of basic material and the core courses and practicum experiences allow an in-depth study of the communication field. In the upper-division classes the students will develop an in-depth understanding of the subject matter which will provide them with a solid intellectual foundation as they pursue their careers.

Communication majors must complete 36 hours of essential studies. The following Essential Studies courses are required: COMM 110, ENGL 110, ENGL 120 or ENGL 125, ENGL 320, MATH 103, PSYC 111, and SOC 110. These courses are pre-requisite courses to this major.

A minor is required for this major. 

Student Learning Outcomes:

• SLO 1: Students will develop arguments, theses, goals, and plans by gathering, interpreting, analyzing, and organizing information into logical frameworks.
• SLO 2: Students will effectively adapt their communication to the rhetorical situation.
• SLO 3: Students will enhance their writing, speaking, nonverbal, and listening skills to more effectively communicate.
• SLO 4: Students will demonstrate their ability to communicate through a wide range of multimedia technologies including, but not limited to, multimedia software, radio broadcasts (Comet Radio), etc.
• SLO 5: Students will demonstrate their acquired communication skills in appropriate internships or practica.